Watch with a dial rigidly connected to the casing



WATCH WITH A DIAL RIGIDLY CONNECTED TO THE CASING Original Filed Aug. 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Invenhrs I9 26 24 2 9 a; useppe. monicsa-Camsp v Ennio B fss ym LOW,

Al iorney;

y 7 G. MONTESE-CARUSO ETAL 3,321,906

WATCH WITH A DIAL RIGIDLY CONNECTED TO THE CASING Original Filed Aug. 6, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 3 a5 38 6, 32 as 34 39 y fig- 4- -40 63 V w/ y In veniorts 37 64 40 36 GiusePPc, Modem-Caruso Ermio Bussi 8 m, 110m, M

fliiorneys United States Patent 3,321,906 WATCH WITH A DIAL RIGIDLY CONNECTED TO THE CASING Giuseppe Montese-Caruso, Viale Bianca Maria 22, Milan, Italy, and Ennio Bussi, Via Monte Creta 25, Rome,

taly Continuation of application Ser. No. 218,197, Aug. 6, 1962. This application Nov. 15, 1965, Ser. No. 514,740 Claims priority, application Switzerland, Aug. 9, 1961, 9,347/61; June 22, 1962, 7,547/62 7 Claims. (Cl. 5888) This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 218,197 filed Aug. 6, 1962, now abandoned, and relates to watches comprising a dial rigidly connected to the casing and in particular to watches in which the glass is set in a lodging, and wherein the dial comprises a wholely visible surface which is positioned at least as high as the glass lodging.

Watches of this type are already known in the art. In these known watches the case-band is made integral with the dial and it is provided at its periphery with an annular rim forming the glass lodging in which the glass is removably set. Since the dial is rigidly connected to the case-band, the combination constitutes a rigid structure having a high moment of resistance with respect to bending stresses exerted in a direction parallel to that of the Watchcase axis. However, the known watches, which are provided with a case-band and a bezel made integral with one another, must be provided with a glass of a particular shape, which is pronouncedly bulged, so that the glass can be set into its lodging or removed therefrom, at will, by means which are easy to use. Moreover, the glass, which comprises either a cylindrical or a truncated conical side wall surface, must be made in such a manner that its side wall surface extends axially above the glass lodging and constitutes a portion which can easily be gripped, for instance by pincers. The glass can thus be subjected to an elastic deformation which is great enough to permit removing the same. The necessity of providing the glass with such a cylindrical or truncated conical side wall involves giving the glass at relatively great height. The known watches of the type indicated above cannot therefore be made very flat.

'Moreover, the known watches of the type considered generally comprise a dial mounted on the movement in the usual manner. Furthermore, the known watchcases in question often comprise three different pieces: a bezel carrying the glass; a case-band, and a bottom. When the movement is set in place, the periphery of the dial abuts against an inner rim of the bezel, thus ensuring an exact dial positioning within the watchcase.

To enable the. free motion of the hands in the clearance space comprised between the dial and the glass, this space must be given a height greater than the minimum height necessitated-by the motion work in order to provide a safety factor and to compensate for possible height differences, which can for instance be due to the possible deformations of the dial as well as to manufacturing tolerances.

With the watches of the type indicated above, which are already known in the art, the fact that the visible dial surface extends on a level higher than that of the glass lodging enables making the total height of the case-band somewhat smaller, thus rendering the substantial convexity of the glass less pronounced. The glass fixing method, however, also requires a relatively high clearance between the glass and the dial for safety.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a Watch of the type mentioned above in which the axial clearance between the dial upper surface and the glass lower surface can be reduced to a minimum and in which other watch parts can moreover be made with a height as small as possible without involving any risk of jeopardizing the operation of the motion work.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a watch structure of relatively increased rigidly against face of the dial face be exposed and therefore easily machinable without the need for special tools and/or methods; and,

(d) To provide a watch structure wherein access to the dial indicating members (that is, the hands) is easily had without removing the glass.

The structural arrangement whereby the dial face and the dial indicating hands are accessible without the necessity to remove the watch glass from its lodging permits use of a relatively less convex watch glass since said glass need not be, flexible for purposes of removal.

The above objects and others will become readily apparent from the following detailed description of various preferred embodiments of the present invention with reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which,

FIGURE 1 is an elevation-a1 view of a first embodiment, shown on a reduced scale in reference to the other figures of the drawings,

FIGURE 2 is a part axial section of the watch ,of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a part axial section of a second embodiment,

FIGURE 4 is part axi-a1 section of a third embodiment,

FIGURE 5 is a part axial section of a modification of this third embodiment,

FIGURE 6 is a part axial section of a fourth embodiment, and

FIGURE 7 is a part axial section of a fifth embodiment.

The watch represented in FIGURES l and 2 is a socalled very flat wrist-watch. It comprises a movement 1 which is located in -a casing comprising a circular caseband 2 surrounding the watch movement 1 and carrying the wrist band attaching lugs 4. A removable bottom 3 is snap-fitted to the lower part of the case-band 2, so as to close the bottom side of the lodging in which the movement 1 is located. For this purpose, the bottom is provided with an engaging sleeve 6 which lies within a peripheral rim of the case-band, somewhat spaced apart therefrom, the inner side surface of said sleeve being made slightly truncated conical and engaging the inner side surface, also made truncated conicaLof an annular groove '5 provided in the lower surface of the caseband 2. An outwardly extending flange of bottom 3 also lies within groove 5, the bottom lower surface thus being substantially flush with the lower surface of the case-band 2. A notch (not shown) is provided in the outer side portion of groove 5 to permit engaging the outer bottom flange by means for instance of a knife blade and to enable removing the bottom 3 from the case-band 2 to give access to the watch movement 1. A cylindrical opening 8 provided through the case-band 2 in a radial direction serves as passage for the Winding and handsetting stem 9 which is connected to the movement 1 in the usual manner.

An annular groove or recess 10 is provided in the upper portion of the case-band 2. Groove 10 is surrounded by a rim 11 of the case-band 2. The cross-section of this groove is substantially rectangular. Its inner side surface 13 is, however, slightly truncated conical, so as to form a retaining portion 18 to which an annular bezel 12 having a cross-section which corresponds to that of groove can be snap-fitted. In a modification, the bezel 12 could also be secured to the case-band by a snap-fit provided in the outer side surface of groove 10. The bezel 12 wholly extends within groove 10. At its upper inner edge it is provided with a lodging 16 in which a peripheral rim of glass 14 is located. As shown in FIGURE 2, the groove 10 has such a depth that the bottom face of this groove is interrupted broken by the opening 8 provided for the Winding stem 9. Although the bezel 12 is wholly embedded within groove 10 it can nevertheless easily be removed therefrom, after the stem 9 has itself been removed, by means of a pointed tool introduced into opening 8.

The groove'10 surrounds an annular upper portion 17 of the case-band 2, which carries a thin web extending towards the center of the watchcase and becoming thinner and thinner in this direction, said web constituting the dial 7. At its periphery, the dial 7 has the same thickness as the usual dials. Since the dial is made integral with the case-band 2, it forms together with the latter a rigid structure, the mechanic resistance of which is sufficient to support the bending, pulling or twisting stresses which the casing can be subjected to in use. The upper surface of the dial, which carries the horal divisions, is flush with the upper surface of portion 17. The upper surface of this portion 17 is also visible through the glass 14 and it constitutes therefore the outer portion of the dial visible surface, so that it can also serve at least in part as support for the horal divisions. The glass lodging 16 substantially extends on the same level as the upper edge of the retaining portion 18, so that the Whole visible surface of dial 7 extends above the glass lodging 16. The height of the visible metallic portions of the casing described is accordingly reduced to a minimum. To assemble the watch described, the movement 1 is first introduced into the case-band 2 from the bottom side thereof; the winding stem 9 is then set in place and the bottom 3 fixed to the watchcase. Indicators (not shown) can then be set above the dial 7 on to the watch movement shafts which protrude above the dial, while passing through a central opening (not shown) thereof. The watchcase is finally closed by setting the bezel 12 in place.

The indicating members of the watch described may consist either of hands or of discs each carrying an indicating mark. In the last instance the lower disc could, in a modification, be located in a circular recess provided in the upper surface of dial 7 coaxially to its central opening. Since the dial has its peripheral portion connected to the case-band 2, its central portion can be made thinner than with usual dials. The dial 7 could accordingly also be provided in a further modification with two coaxial staggered recesses serving, the first, to receive the minute indicating member, and, the second, the hour indicating member.

With further embodiments of the watch described, the glass could also be mounted on the case-band 2 in another manner as by means of a bezel wholly embedded in the case-band.

Thus the watch represented in FIGURE 3 comprises a circular case-band 19, to which a bezel provided with a glass lodging 21 and carrying a glass 22 is fixed. In a modification this case-band could also have a non-circul ar shape. A bottom 23 extending outwards to the periphery of the case-band is snap-fitted to the latter thus closing the lower side of the space enclosing the movement 29, which is secured to the case-band 19 by means of a resilient ring (not shown) engaging an inner groove 24 of the case-band. The case-band 19 is further provided with a radial opening 25 forming a passage for the winding and hand-setting stem 26. In its upper portion the case-band 19 comprises an annular rim 27, the outer side face of which forms a retaining portion for the bezel 20. This rim also comprises an annular collar 28, which forms together with rim 27 a lodging in which the peripheral portion of a dial 30 is located. The latter does not depend on the movement. It is removably fixed to the case-band 19 by screws 28a.

With the watchcases described above, in which the dial is directly connected to the case-band, the fact that the dial upper surface extends in its entirety at least on the same level as the glass lodging facilitates manufacturing the dial. The dial upper surface can indeed easily be approached, so that it can be submitted to the usual manufacturing processes and usual finishing operations.

The movement can furthermore be secured within the watchcase in a relatively high position, so that the whole watchcase can be made with a very small height. It has thus been observed that there was possible to set a movement of usual thickness into a watchcase of the type described, the total height of which does not exceed that of the case of a usual very flat known watch. The watch described can thus comprise movements, the manu facture of which does not involve resorting to particular arrangements to reduce their thickness to a minimum value. Moreover, since the dial is rapidly connected to the case-band and constitutes together with the letter a unit having a great movement of inertia, it is possible to reduce the case-band height to a great extent without weakening the watchcase. Due to the fact that the dial follows the deformation of the case-band, the stiffness and the mechanical resistance of the casing indeed permit the latter to support, without deformation, the stresses transmitted thereto by the wrist-band.

The gass is permanently fixed to the bezel in the usual manner; it can be made out of the same material as the glasses of the known very flat casings. The bezel itself is snap-fitted to the case-band, so that the level on which the glass extends will always be the same. Every time the bezel is fixed to the case-band, the glass thus comes to lie always exactly in the same relative position. Due to this fact and also to the stiffness of the unit comprising the case-band and the dial, the space comprised between the glass and the dial can be reduced to a minimum value, so that the watch cases described, which are ar ranged for receiving movements of a usual thickness, can be made with a total height smaller than that of the corresponding watchcases of known construction.

Since the dial is rigidly connected to the case-band, it finally protects the movement against infiltrations of dust and moisture which could occur at least between the case-band and the bezel. Dust or moisture which could have entered the watchcase is indeed retained above the dial. They can only come in the movement through the central dial opening, because they cannot pass by the dial periphery as with watches provided with a dial carried by the watch movement and which does not depend on the casing.

With the watches represented in FIGURES 4 to 7 the dial, instead of being rigidly secured to the case-band, is secured to an enlargement ring.

The watch represented in FIGURE 4 comprises a caseband 31 having a substantially rectangular cross-section. The case-band upper surface is provided with an annular groove or recess 32. The inner side wall of this groove is slightly inclined so as to form a retaining portion for the bezel 33. The latter is wholly embedded within groove 32, the upper bezel surface being exactly flush with the upper surface of the case-band 31. The bezel 33 comprises a rim 34 forming the glass lodging and supporting a glass 35, the periphery of which is definitely located in said lodging. The casing of the watch described is closed at its lower side by a bottom 36 snap-fitted to the case band 31 in the usual manner.

The inner side wall of case-band 31 comprises a tapped or threaded portion 37 which extends from the lower case-band edge to an upper inner rim 38 and in which a one-piece cup-shaped member (39, 40) is screwed, the central portion of said member constituting a dial plate 39 and being provided with a central opening (not shown) for the passage of the shafts which carry the watch indicating members, and the outer portion of said member constituting an enlargement ring 40. A screwthread 41 is provided on the outer side surface of ring 40, so as to permit screwing cup-shaped member (39, 40) into the case-band 31, thus securing it to this casing part. The ring 40 is therefore provided with radial slots 60 extending through its lower end face. The ring 40 can thus be driven in rotation by means either of a key or of a screw-driver. A shoulder 61 which bears against the upper rim or shoulder 38 positions member (39, 40) within the case-band. When the shoulder 61 is in abutting engagement with the lower face of rim 38, the dial plate 39 extends within said rim and its upper surface lies in its entirety on a level higher than that of the glass lodging 34 as shown in FIGURE 4. The ring 40 is moreover provided with an annular groove 42 in its inner side surface, said groove serving to the fixation of a movement (not shown) in the usual manner.

The watchcase described is still provided with a radial opening (not shown) extending through the case-band 31 and the ring 40 and serving as passage for the winding and hand-setting stem (not shown). The case-band 31 is provided with axial bores 63 which are accessible from the lower side of the case-band, when the bottom 36 has been removed and which permit removing the bezel 33 by means of pushing rods introduced into said bores.

In a modification the member (39, 40), instead of being made in one piece could also comprise two pieces like member (43, 44) (FIGURE piece 43 thereby having the shape of a thin disc and constituting the dial and piece 44 having the shape of an outwardly threaded ring constituting an enlargement ring, both said pieces being snap-fitted to one another. With the watches represented in FIGURES 4 and 5, the case-band, the enlargement ring and the dial form together a unit which has a great moment of inertia as well as a great rigidity, even if the sizes of these parts and in particular if the dial thickness and the case-band height are reduced to a minimum. Since the enlargement ring can be removed from the case-band, the movement and the hands can moreover be set in place without requiring a removal of the bezel. The movement can indeed be secured to the enlargement ring, the shaft ends carrying the indicating members thereby extending through the dial center opening, and the hands can be set in place before screwing member (39, 40) or member (43, 44) into the case-band.

In the embodiment represented in FIGURE 6, the dial 39 is also made integral with the enlargement ring 40. The latter is rigidly secured to the case-band 31. Instead of being screwed in place, the ring 40 is, however, snapfitted to the case-band. The case-band 31 therefore comprises a rim 38 as with the embodiment of FIGURE 4. But instead of having a tapped inner surface, it comprises a smooth cylindrical inner wall 64 having the same sizes as the outer side wall of the enlargement ring 40, so that these two pieces can be set into one another without any play.

Between the upper edge of wall 64 and rim 38 there is a truncated conical portion 65 forming a snap-fitted part and cooperating with a similar portion of ring 40. The remaining parts of the watch represented in FIGURE 6 are identical to the similar parts of FIGURE 4. Once the bezel 33 and the bottom 36 have been removed, the movement of the watch described, which is fixed to ring 40, can easily be removed from the watchcase, by means of a downward thrust exerted on dial 39. The member (39, 40) has a great stiffness, which is due to its shape. By adjusting the same without play in the case-band 31, the latter is similarly given a substantial stiffness.

Whereas the casings represented in FIGURES 4, 5 and 6 are not provided with any water-tight device, the watchcomprises a glass 45 fixed in a water-tight manner to a case-band and bezel part 46 by means of a strengthening ring 47. The case-band and bezel part 46 comprises a glass lodging 48 the upper edge of which forms part of the upper surface of the bezel. It moveover comprises a lodging 49 at is lower inner edge and a thread 50 in its inner wall, this thread extending from the lower case-band edge to a rim 51 on which the periphery of glass 45 and the strengthening ring 47 lie. A bot-tom 52 provided with a threaded sleeve 53 and with an outwardly extending flange 54 engages the tapped portion 50 of the case-band 46, the flange 54 thereby pressing a water-tight gasket 55 in the case-band lodging 49. The movement (not shown) of the watch described is secured in the usual manner to a one-piece member (56, 57) similar to member (39, 40) and the central part 56 of which constitutes the dial, while its peripheral part 57 constitutes an enlargement ring. The space between the case-band and bezel part 46, on the one hand, and the glass 45, on the other hand, is tightly sealed under the action of ring 47 and the space between the bottom 52 and the case-band and bezel part 46 is tightly sealed by gasket 55. A small pipe shown in dot-and-dash lines in FIGURE 7 and set with force fit into a radial opening 59 of case-band 46 enables making the passage of the winding stem water-tight by means of a usual crown gasket.

As shown in FIGURE 7, the dial 56, the enlargement ring 57 and the case-band 46 form together a rigid unit. When member (56, 57) is screwed into the case-band an annular shoulder 62 of this member bears on rim 51. The upper surface of dial 56 lies then on a higher level than the glass lodging 48, so that the rigid unit (46, 56, 57) has a great moment of inertia due to the small total height of the case-band.

In the present invention (with specific reference to FIGURE 7) the dial face 56 constitutes a rigid bridge element across the annulus defined by case member 46. The rigidity of the bridge is realized through the fact that the dial face 56 constitutes a wall portion of an annular ring 57 and this ring 57 can be tightly secured (with no play) to the case member 46 through the threads and the shoulders 51 and 62. An important consideration is that although a rigid structure is realized, the dial face 56 is removable from the case member together with the movement and with the dial hands and this is realized without affecting the glass 45. Since it is not necesary to ever remove the glass 45, the glass securing element 47 may form an effective relatively permanent type of seal to insure water-tightness. Further, since the glass need not be removed, it may be made flatter than usual (since it does not have to be flexed for removal purposes) and it need not be provided with any gripping means, etc.

The dial face 56 is completely unobstructed about its entire periphery so that it can be subjected to grinding and polishing, etc., without use of special tools or methods and without leaving any surface area thereof untouched. The complementary abutting shoulders 51 and 62 have no effect upon the accessibility of tools to the dial face surface.

It is to be understood that the scope of the invention is not to be limited to the details of the embodiments disclosed herein but that all modifications obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to fall within the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a watch: an annular case member defined by inner and outer wall portions, an annular recess in one radial end face of said member between said wall portions; a glass comprising a peripheral rim which is secured in said recess; an inner member comprising a radial dial plate rigidly mounted along its outer periphery to an annular ring which extends axially from one side of said plate, said ring being removably fitted within said inner wall portion through the end of said case member opposite to the end on which is located said annular recess, the inner wall portion of said case member and the outer wall of said ring comprising complementary abutment shoulders at one axial end thereof, said shoulders abutting each other and thereby preventing movement of said ring in one axial direction relative to said case member; a watch movement mounted within the annular recess defined by said ring and secured to said ring on one side of said dial plate; the inner wall portion of said case member and the outer wall of said ring comprising complementary engaging circumferential surfaces with said surfaces comprising mutually engaging securing means for rigidly securing said ring to said case member whereby said ring and case member structurally complement each other and form an integral structural unit.

2. In a watch: an annular case member defined by inner and outer wall portions, an annular recess in one radial face of said member, said recess being defined by a plane bottom surface which extends radially inward beyond said inner wall portion and forming an annular rim at one end of said inner wall portion; a glass comprising a peripheral rim fitted in said recess against said bottom surface; a cup-shaped inner member comprising a ring portion and a radial wall portion extending across one side of the annulus defined by said ring portion and defining the bottom of said cup-shaped member; an annular outer recess in the outer periphery of said ring portion and surrounding said radial wall portion, said outer recess being defined by a plane bottom wall which abuts against said rim thereby limiting axial movement in one direction of said cup-shaped member relative to said case member; a watch movement mounted within said cup-shaped member on one side of said wall portion; said case member inner wall portion and said ring portion including complementary securing means removably securing said cup-shaped member within said inner wall portion of said case member, said securing means rigidly connecting said cup-shaped member to said case member wherby they both form an integral structural unit.

3. In a watch according to claim 2, a space defined between said glass and the plane in which lies said plane bottom surface of the recess in said case member, said radial wall portion defining an outwardly bulged dial surface whose outer periphery is defined by said outer recess in said ring portion, said dial surface in its entirety lying within said space.

4. In a watch according to claim 2, said complementary securing means being constituted by mutually engaging threads on said case member and said ring portion; and further comprising a bottom member which includes a radial wall portion and an annular sleeve axially projecting from one face thereof, said bottom member comprising a peripheral flange extending radially beyond said sleeve, said sleeve being threadedly engaged with threads on said case member inner wall portion; a gasket between said flange and said case member; and a strengthening ring located radially inwardly of said glass rim and lying on said bottom surface of said case member annular recess, said strengthening rim water-tightly sealing said glass rim relative to said case member annular recess.

5. In a watch: an annular case member comprising an annular inner recess in one radial face thereof and an annular inner rim projecting radially inwardly from the bottom of said recess; a glass having a peripheral rim fitted into said recess in contact with said inner rim; an inner member comprising an outer peripheral ring portion and a radial wall portion extending across one axial end of said ring portion and rigidly connected to said ring portion along the outer periphery of said radial wall portion; a watch movement secured within said ring portion on one side of said wall portion; said ring portion comprising an annular outer recess in the outer periphery thereof at said one axial end of said ring portion, said outer recess defining the peripheral limit of said radial wall portion; said outer recess including a bottom wall; said case member and said inner member comprising complementary securing mean removably securing said inner member and said case member to each other said securing means rigidly connecting said inner member to said case member whereby they both form an integral structural unit; said inner rim abutting against the bottom wall in said outer recess.

6. In a watch according to claim 1, said securing means being constituted by the fact that said complementary surfaces are threaded along an axial extent thereof.

7. In a watch according to claim 1, said securing means being constituted by the fact that said complementary surfaces constitute a snap-fit for said ring within said case member.

References Cited FOREIGN PATENTS 1,172,460 2/1959 France.

RICHARD B. WILKINSON, Primary Examiner.

GERALD F. BAKER, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN A WATCH: AN ANNULAR CASE MEMBER DEFINED BY INNER AND OUTER WALL PORTIONS, AN ANNULAR RECESS IN ONE RADIAL END FACE OF SAID MEMBER BETWEEN SAID WALL PORTIONS; A GLASS COMPRISING A PERIPHERAL RIM WHICH IS SECURED IN SAID RECESS; AN INNER MEMBER COMPRISING A RADIAL DIAL PLATE REGIDLY MOUNTED ALONG ITS OUTER PERIPHERY TO AN ANNULAR RING WHICH EXTENDS AXIALLY FROM ONE SIDE OF SAID PLATE, SAID RING BEING REMOVABLY FITTED WITHIN SAID INNER WALL PORTION THROUGH THE END OF SAID CASE MEMBER OPPOSITE TO THE END ON WHICH IS LOCATED SAID ANNULAR RECESS, THE INNER WALL PORTION OF SAID CASE MEMBER AND THE OUTER WALL OF SAID RING COMPRISING COMPLEMENTARY ABUTMENT SHOULDERS AT ONE AXIAL END THEREOF, SAID SHOULDERS ABUTTING EACH OTHER AND THEREBY PREVENTING MOVEMENT OF SAID RING IN ONE AXIAL DIRECTION RELATIVE TO SAID CASE MEMBER; A WATCH MOVEMENT MOUNTED QITHIN THE ANNULAR RECESS DEFINED BY SAID RING AND SECURED TO SAID RING ON ONE SIDE OF SAID DIAL PLATE; THE INNER WALL PORTION OF SAID CASE MEMBER AND THE OUTER WALL OF SAID RING COMPRISING COMPLEMENTARY ENGAGING CIRCUMFERENTIAL SURFACES WITH SAID SURFACES COMPRISING MUTUALLY ENGAGING SECURING MEANS FOR RIGIDLY SECURING SAID RING TO SAID CASE MEMBER WHEREBY SAID RING AND CASE MEMBER STRUCTUALLY COMPLEMENT EACH OTHER AND FORM AN INTEGRAL STRUCTURAL UNIT. 